The Dartmouth Nordic ski team traveled to Rumford, Maine this past week to participate in the U.S. National Championships, a competition featuring skiers from across the country and ranging in age from early teens to 30s.
Anne Hart '13 won a gold medal in the junior women's five-kilometer classic race with a time of 14:35.1, while Eric Packer '12 won third place in both the classic and the classic sprint.
Teammate Erika Flowers '12 emphasized the significance of Packer's performance, explaining that it places him as the third-best skier in the event in the country.
Sophie Caldwell '12 also had an impressive showing, winning sixth place in the classic sprint.
Dartmouth won both the women's College Cup as well as the overall College Cup, awards given to collegiate teams at the tournament.
Traditionally the Big Green's season opener, U.S. Nationals is the first major national competition in which judges select athletes for European tournaments such as the Royal Juniors, the Scandinavian Cup, and the U-23 Championships.
Races for U.S. Nationals last about a week, and the Big Green participated in four races on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Both men's and women's teams participated in two sprints, one skate and one classic, with the exact distance differing depending on age and gender.
Flowers said the team was satisfied with its performance despite the tournament's proximity to the holidays, numerous cases of individual sickness among skiers and the lack of snow.
"Overall, there were a lot of really good results within the top 20," she said. "I think it was generally a solid start to the season."
The team will work on staying healthy and improving its individual speed work in order to bring the entire level of the team up, Flowers added.
She also emphasized the environment's role in the team's training.
"If we can finally get some snow and, as a result, good training, everyone will be able to bring the whole level of competition and performance up," Flowers said.
Collegiate Nordic ski races will not start for the team for another two weeks.
